1. Field of the lnvention
This invention relates generally to building architecture, and more particularly to a drive-up customer service station, such as a teller station, which is capable of accommodating both walk-in and drive-up customers.
2. Description of Related Art
In businesses which deal with both walk-in and drive-up customers, it is often desirable for employees to make visual contact with customers. The visual contact allows the employees to monitor the actions of the customers in order to provide prompt, efficient service and, more importantly, to give the customers a sense of personal treatment. Since many people prefer drive-up service to walk-in service, many service-oriented businesses now provide drive-up stations. It is not uncommon for a person to visit a bank, a dry cleaner, and a restaurant without ever leaving his automobile.
Unfortunately, the architectural layout of the buildings in which these service-oriented businesses operate is often inefficient. Many older buildings, which were initially designed to accommodate only walk-in customers, have been converted to accommodate drive-up customers also. In most instances, this conversion is accomplished by merely providing a drive-up window which is monitored by at least one additional employee. Surprisingly, designs of many newer buildings, which are specifically intended to accommodate both walk-in customers and drive-up customers, conform to the designs of the older conversions.
Many banks, for instance, provide both walk-in and drive-up service so that their customers can conveniently make transactions. Of all service-oriented businesses, it is perhaps most important for financial institutions to give personal service to their customers, since they are dealing with large amounts of money in many cases. Therefore, bank buildings typically have a large customer service area for tellers which includes a row of individual teller stations facing the interior of the building to accommodate walk-in customers, and one or more outwardly facing teller stations to accommodate drive-up customers. This arrangement requires the tellers to move back and forth between opposite sides of their work area to service both walk-in and drive-up customers. This is not only inefficient but also leads to confusion and errors because at least certain of the tellers are required to keep track of currency at two different locations, one of which is convenient for servicing walk-up customers and the other of which is convenient for servicing drive-up customers. As an alternative, a bank may hire additional tellers so that some tellers service only walk-in customers, while other tellers service only drive-up customers. This is an inherently inefficient approach, however, because there will inevitably be more non-productive time when the various tellers are idle.
Some service-oriented businesses, such as banks, are capable of providing service to more than one drive-up customer at a time. Most drive-up teller stations include a drive-up window through which a bank employee monitors a plurality of parallel drive-up lanes. The cars are positioned adjacent one another in their respective drive-up lanes, such that the drive-up teller must look over the cars in the near lanes to see the cars in the far lanes. It is entirely possible that a large vehicle, such as a van, whose driver chooses to make his transaction in one of the near lanes, will prevent the drive-up teller from seeing cars in the outside lanes.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.